


Once in a Lifetime

by rbcch



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Liam, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Top Zayn, Zayn Leaves One Direction, and he can't seem to find a closure, and it fucks Liam up, cause I'm devastated, like a ton i swear, like seriously fucks him up, lots of bitterness here, no but i mean I'm an effin zayn girl ffs, ok im sorry, this is my way to cope with this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-19 23:20:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3628056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rbcch/pseuds/rbcch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam has read somewhere that <i>For each person there is a sentence – a series of words – which has the power to destroy them</i>.</p><p>He remembers wondering what it would be for him, for other boys as well, and now it occurs to him – this must be it. This must be their sentence, something capable of destroying every single one of them. It’s funny how now that he knows it, he wishes he didn’t. </p><p> </p><p>Or, Zayn leaves One Direction and Liam has trouble accepting it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once in a Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> The five stages of grief being denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, i'm stuck somewhere between deniall (omg) and anger. 
> 
> I know it's way too soon, but i needed to somehow process this myself, so i sat down and wrote this in approximately five hours, so this is not my finest works, and i apologize for that. 
> 
> Idek what to say srsly, this just 5k long rant and i hope you enjoy it even though i didn't.

The first thought that crosses Liam’s mind is that he’s not even that surprised.

The second thought, that follows right behind, is that _we should have seen this coming_.

His third thought is that, to his own surprise, he doesn’t feel much about this matter. In fact, he realises, he doesn’t feel anything at all.

“What the hell did you say?” Louis demands on his left.

Liam turns to look around and take it all in, because this feels like one of those moments that you should memorise and keep in mind very carefully, trying to remember even the smallest of details. It’s like some kind of turning point, something big and life changing and important.

Louis is right next to him, his arms crossed, and he looks enraged, like, proper pissed, and Liam thinks he has never seen Louis so angry ever before during those five years they’ve known each other. His stares at Zayn, his eyebrow raised, demanding and as if saying that _I swear to God I will not be easy on you on this one_.

Niall is a bit further on the left, smiling in disbelief, waiting for someone to ensure him that he heard wrong, so that he could laugh about it and shout something like _No mate, but you really got me proper scared for a sec here, don’t you ever do that again!_ But as the seconds go by, one by one, and nobody is jumping and screaming _Got you fooled_ , Niall’s smile keeps fading and his frown keeps deepening, disappointed expression taking over.

Harry is on Liam’s right, his eyes wide, and he looks a bit like the child somebody took the last candy from. His bottom lip does this thing that it always does before Harry starts crying and Liam hasn’t seen Harry this miserable since forever. It kinda scares the hell out of him, because he knows it takes a lot for Harry to look like that.

“I think it’s time for me to leave the band,” Liam hears again and he shifts his gaze back to Zayn.

Liam has read somewhere that _For each person there is a sentence – a series of words – which has the power to destroy them_.

He remembers wondering what it would be for him, for other boys as well, and now it occurs to him – this must be it. This must be their sentence, something capable of destroying every single one of them. It’s funny how now that he knows it, he wishes he didn’t.

Zayn looks miserable, like this has been the hardest decision of his life, and Liam’s first instinct is to run to him, embrace him and tell him that all is gonna be okay, Zayn’s gonna be okay, they’re _gonna be okay_ , because there’s no way they aren’t, no other possible outcome for this. But then Harry sobs and starts crying next to him and Liam spares Zayn one last look before he goes to hug Harry.

Their eyes, Zayn and his, meet for the briefest of moments, but it’s just enough for Liam to read just how hurt Zayn is, but, as sick as it sounds, Liam can’t bring himself to care. He cuddles Harry, turning his back on Zayn, and that’s the last time he sees Zayn in a very long while.

It’s absurd and it’s hard to comprehend or believe or digest, but this is all it takes. One sentence, ten words, and nothing is ever same again.

*

Liam doesn’t feel much ever since. It’s like his life is divided into two stages: before and after Zayn leaving, and _after_ everything in his life is just a pale phantom of what it used to be. He can’t quite place it, but it’s like you’ve been running, chasing something for far too long, and when the chase is finally over and you can stop to catch your breath, you realise that you’ve been chasing nothing and actually running is all you’ve got left, has been for years now.

They release the fifth album and do yet another massive world tour, just as they promised they would, but after that it’s pretty clear that their story is very much over. Harry is the first to speak up, telling how exhausted he is and how nothing feels right anymore. They all agree, not because they’re that exhausted, but because at some point it’s better to leave broken mirror broken instead of trying to fix it and ending up hurting yourself. _We should have seen this coming,_ plays over and over and over again in Liam’s head, and still he can’t seem to escape the feeling that there’s no closure to all of it.

They announce they will take undefined hiatus and after their last interview as a band, they part on a parking lot and their tired and empty goodbyes don’t contain the promise of _I see you guys soon_ as they did always before.

Needless to say, they never come back from their hiatus.

Niall ends up in the music industry, like they all knew he would. The breakup was hard on him, seriously disappointing, but Niall is the kind of person to recover from that kind of stuff pretty quickly and he must be the first of them to forget and forgive. It’s not long before his eyes gain their excited brightness again, and he’s the old Niall in no time, sunshine and always happy. And he truly is, happy that is, finding his place in this life, and it makes the rest of them happy, too. He marries a nice girl, the kind that fits Niall just perfectly, and they have a daughter, Penelope, and twin boys, Sean and Patrick, and that inherit their mother’s kindness and their father’s excitement and brightness.

Louis starts acting, because that’s pretty much all he knows how to do, and it’s great, like the best thing that could happen to Louis, because they all know there’s no way Louis would go back to _the normal life_. He travels a lot, bringing ridiculous souvenirs and funny stories from all around the world, and at some point his smile changes from forced to genuine. It takes them a while, but finally it occurs to them – Louis has let go, and he’s loving his life again, coming to terms with everything that had happened. He and Eleanor get marries, and it’s great, too, because she keeps him grounded and still sets him free. They have five incredible daughters, Tiffany, Katherine, Meredith, Grace and Emma, and Louis is never as excited and alive as he is talking about his girls – his daughters and their mom.

Harry does God knows what, ten new projects with his hipster friends every week. He doesn’t stay long in one location, spending week in L.A. and the next somewhere completely else just to return to London for a quick visit before storming out of the country again, visiting his mom on his way. They’re not sure what he even does for a living, and they never ask, and he never tells. This is the very definition of what’s happened to them – once they were so close they knew absolutely everything about each other, but that’s not the case anymore, and when Liam thinks about it, it makes him sick and desperate and very, very sad, so he tries not to think about it. They never see enough of Harry to know if he’s completely okay with what happened, but knowing him, he’s not the kind of person to hold anything against someone for too long. But the fact is that Harry never settles down after that, so in some way the damage done must be a lot deeper than what meets the eye.

Liam marries Sophia, as he’s expected to. They move into a big house just outside of London and have two most beautiful daughters, Amanda and Melissa. They are the best thing to happen to him, and he adores them, never denying them anything and always ensuring they’re as happy as possible. They are his sunshine, the thing that makes him wake up in the morning, and it’s selfish, but they are his saviours, their laughter pretty much the only thing to keep him alive. He ends up working for some kind of firm, in some kind of office, and even though he has made enough money to never work again, he keeps doing it to gain some sense of normality and keep his life in order.

But in some irrational way Sophia reminds him of everything he used to have and then lost abruptly, so he grows bitter towards her as well. She doesn’t deserve that, and he hates himself _so much_ for feeling that way, but eventually it goes to the point where he can’t even look at her anymore. Sophia doesn’t understand, and why would she, but she lets him go, gives him divorce he’s craving for and doesn’t demand him to fulfil all the promises he made when he said _I do_ and even before that, and, at some point, forgives him, because that’s what she is like – a bigger human being he will ever be. And still, Liam can’t escape the feeling that only his disability to keep his shit together has ruined everything for them.

They all claim they’re all stuck somewhere between _I don’t know_ and _I don’t care_ when it comes to Zayn’s life, but Liam never defriends him on Facebook, and neither do the others.

And Zayn’s doing great. He looks good, much better than in 2015, when he was exhausted and emaciated, sparkling of his beautiful eyes long gone. At first, he withdraws from publicity, marries Perrie and keeps it down for a while, but then he returns to the music industry, just as Niall, and starts his own recording label, that does pretty well. Perrie gives birth to the most amazing baby boy, Sani, and Liam swears he has never seen such a beautiful family.

The four of them keep in touch at first, quite a lot, actually. They’re there every time something big happens – in wedding halls, maternities, for christenings, housewarmings and birthdays. They get together annually on the 23rd of July to celebrate their birthday and for a brief period of time it feels as if nothing has or will change. But should they already know that nothing good lasts, so it doesn’t exactly strike them as a surprising when their meetings become less and less frequent and more and more awkward and forced. It’s the 2026 when they skip their annual get-together for the first time, and nobody ever talks about it, even if the issue hangs in the air, heavy and pressuring, every time two or more of them meet.

They all kinda get over it and move on with their lives, except for Liam. He doesn’t know how and why he’s got so stuck in the past, but no matter how much he seeks or how hard he tries, there seems to be no way to overcome everything that happened. He becomes a bitter person, and it makes him frustrated and angry and even more bitter. And it haunts him, waking him up at night, panting and covered in sweat and he can’t escape one thought – he needs his damn closure. 

*

Slowly, Liam falls into a pattern of doing things and starts not to get over, but to kinda forget. His pattern is dull, well planned and safe – everything he tried to avoid when he was younger, on the top of the world with four lads whom he considered his best friends. But the thing is, his pattern leaves no room for reminiscing or overthinking or self-pity, so he loves his pattern. He eliminates pretty much everything that could break it from his life, because it’s too weak, and once broken he doesn’t think he could re-build it.

But what he can’t eliminate is his past, and on one pretty usual day it starts to catch up with him.

It begins with a phone call from Louis.

His phone rarely rings, the only persons to call him being his mom or daughters or Sophia to argue about something like him giving girls too much money or freedom. So when he sees Louis’ name on the screen, his first reaction is desire to throw up. Right behind it comes desire to throw the phone away or at least not to answer.

But he has always loved his boys way too much, and he couldn’t deny them anything even if his life depended on it – still, after all this time of being bitter, broken and full of hate towards everything. So he does the only thing he comes up with – picks up, but doesn’t say a thing.

“Liam,” Louis says. “Are you fifteen or what. I can totally hear you breathing, and I can’t believe I’m almost forty and just said that.”

“Louis,” Liam says flatly. Not because of Louis, but because everything he says nowadays comes out flatly.

“I would start with all the pleasantries about how have you been and what are you up to and are Sophia and girls okay, but we both know we don’t give a flying fuck, so I’ll just cut straight to it,” Louis announces and that’s what Liam has always loved about him. He’s never been anything but honest with Liam, and as the years have passed by, Liam has learned to appreciate raw, straightforward honesty. “We’re meeting this weekend. And by “we” I mean all of us.”

“I have the girls this weekend,” Liam says, lie that he doesn’t have to think about twice, because he has used it so many times already.

“No, you don’t,” Louis snorts. “I called Sophia and checked with her.”

Liam thinks he should feel scandalised, should interpret this as a violation of his privacy, but the years of being numb only make him hum at Louis.

“I don’t want to meet up,” he says, and this time it’s true. His pattern doesn’t involve them, because they’re the factor that could break it.

“Yup, I know,” Louis says popping the p. “That’s why Harry and Niall made me call you. Fucking delicate flowers still don’t know how to handle you, after all the shit we’ve been through together.”

“So this is Harry and Niall’s idea?”

“’S, and pretty shitty one, but we’re meeting up, Liam,” Louis states a-matter-of-factly, and Liam pities the girls, because somehow Louis doesn’t strike him as a father you could win an argument against.

“Why the fuck? You just confessed you think it’s a shitty idea,” Liam’s voice is still flat, and if he was capable of any kind of emotions besides the basic ones, like hunger, he would be worried about himself.

“Because it’s been sixteen fucking years, Payno, and I’m running out of ideas on how to help you. You need to fucking let go, and that’s exactly why we’re meeting.”

They both stay silent for a while. Liam knows Louis is challenging him from the other side of the line, but his own silence isn’t thinking this over or trying to decide what to say. He’s just silent, staring out of the window, where London is as alive as ever, and savours the moment, for the comfortable silence has ever been one of the best things Louis has had to offer.

“Yeah,” he says finally. “Yeah, okay, whatever. Where and when?”

“Friday, seven o’clock, your place,” Louis shouts and hangs up before Liam has time to protest.

Oh, he so did not sign up for this kind of shit. 

*

The other thing he did not sign up for is Zayn fucking Malik standing on his doorstep.

He means, it _has_ been sixteen years, and during those sixteen years _us_ has meant the four of them. _Us_ stopped involving Zayn as soon as he turned his back on them and took the flight back home.

And then it hits him. _It’s been sixteen years_. It’s been sixteen years since he has talked to Zayn, since he has seen him, other than in Facebook photos or magazines or TV. It’s been sixteen years, and it still hurts like it was yesterday, and Liam is not over this, never was and never will be.

Because Zayn was his best friend, the centre of his universe, his fucking everything. He trusted Zayn with everything, trusted Zayn to stay by his side through everything, and Zayn had let him down and it had _hurt_ , it had hurt like nothing in Liam’s life before or after that.

And maybe that’s why boys had been able to get over it and he hadn’t. Because it did hurt them, but it didn’t hurt them as bad as it hurt Liam. Because they had felt disappointed and sad and angry, but they never felt _betrayed_ , not in a sense that Liam did. Because they didn’t have what Liam and Zayn had.

And what Liam and Zayn had had was something unexplainable, magical, something that you only have _once in a lifetime_. Maybe that’s what made Liam so bitter. He had found his _once in a lifetime_ , but he didn’t get to keep it.

So Liam turns on his heels and walks away, not bothering to invite Zayn in. 

And it’s not like Zayn even needs the invitation, because he finds his way into Liam’s living room with the others, and they all pile on his couch and Liam kinda wants to scream.

It is as awkward as one could imagine it to be. After so many hours spent on the road and in changing rooms and on stage together, after getting to know each other so damn well, it’s funny how people still can become absolute strangers. The conversation is tense, forced and unnatural, but they’re trying, they really are, Liam has to give them that, because he sure as hell isn’t. He just sits in his armchair, hoping that this night would be over already, staring at Zayn with all intensity, and not saying a word. And if Zayn is bothered by his stare, he doesn’t show the slightest of it.

They talk about their lives, mainly, telling who’s been busy doing what and who’s up to what and whom and when and where. Zayn tells about his business, about how wonderful Sani is, about his divorce with Perrie, and boys are right there for him, just like nothing has happened and they have been best friends for all these years, and it makes Liam sick to his stomach, because there’s nothing right about pretending like Zayn didn’t ruin their life and happiness.

At some point, Zayn lights a cigarette and Liam stares at him in disbelief. So, after all they had together, Zayn was perfectly capable of giving up on them, but he still couldn’t give up smoking. Liam flinches at the cruelty of his thought, but can’t help himself from feeling a little bit more hurt.

The night drags painfully slow, but at last boys start to leave. Niall is the first to storm out, blurting something incoherent about Sean and Patrick’s football practise or something like that. Harry, Louis and Zayn stand up not long after that, not even bothering to make any excuses. Liam hates being a lousy host like this, but he reminds himself that he did not sign up for this, and that these fuckers invited themselves over.

As Zayn and Harry leave his living room, Louis grabs his elbow and squeezes hard.

“Get a grip, won’t you?” he hisses.

“What,” Liam hisses back. “What the hell did I do?”

“The problem isn’t what you did, it’s what you didn’t,” Louis states, turns and leaves.

The door slams shut behind them, and Liam is left alone with his thoughts. That’s when Liam realises his pattern has been broken, shattered into pieces so small, he’s never gonna be able to reconstruct it.

Another realisation follows right behind, and this one is big, like the biggest he has ever had, and it’s mind blowing and life changing and he actually hopes that he never had it. But it’s enlightening as well, and after so many years of being so lost and not understanding anything at all, it finally occurs to him.

He’s in love with Zayn fucking Malik.

He is utterly, thoroughly in love with Zayn, has been for twenty-one years now, and that’s what made all of it feel so much harder.

It makes him break into tears. After sixteen year of supressing his tears, not giving in to emotions and isolating himself from anything and everything that could make him _feel_ , he finally lets go and lets it all come out. So the sixteen years worth of tears just keep falling, and it’s a lot, like, seriously a ton of tears.

His cry is abruptly interrupted by the doorbell ringing. He wants to ignore it, figures it’s Louis coming to scream at him, or Niall coming to get something he realised he forgot. Whatever, it’s surely nothing that couldn’t wait till tomorrow to deal with it. But the ringing won’t stop, so Liam forces himself to calm down, dry his eyes and go to the door.

He opens it, his mouth opened to say something really inappropriate, but he freezes when he sees Zayn behind his door. He closes his mouth just to open it again and then close it again.

“No, I mean, you don’t get to do that, Liam,” Zayn says and pushes back into the apartment past Liam.

“The hell, Malik?” Liam says, his tone politely unimpressed and bored as fuck. That’s what years of disinterest do to a person.

“You don’t get to do that, Liam,” Zayn repeats, crossing his arms and staring at Liam.

“Care to elaborate what exactly don’t I get to do?” Liam asks, and he knows how ridiculous he must look and sound, his face swollen from crying but tone as nonchalant as ever. He just hopes that years have made Zayn forget how to read Liam.

“You don’t get to act like you don’t care anymore!” Zayn shouts. “You don’t get to act like what we had wasn’t real, and like losing it didn’t hurt at all! Because what it did to me was tear me apart, nearly fucking killing me, and you don’t get to act like it’s okay. It’s not okay, Liam. It’s not okay and I know that you care.”

Oh. Oh, _oh._ Liam stares at Zayn and the first thought to cross his mind is _is he kidding me or what._ The second is _what the actual fuck_.

“No but look at yourself, won’t you!” and for the first time in ages, Liam’s voice as something else than dull, empty echo. For the first time in ages, there are some kinds of emotions to be heard. “You left us, _you left me_ and now you have the nerve to come here and tell me that it tore _you_ apart? You selfish piece of shit just did this major life decision on your fucking own, messing with all of our lives, and you tell me that it nearly killed you? You _fucking left us, Zayn!_ ”

“I didn’t leave you! I left because I was fucking tired,” Zayn cries out.

“We all were fucking tired. That’s what four albums and world tours in a row and fame do to people. We were _exhausted_ , but we didn’t betray each other.”

Zayn looks at him, so sad and helpless and _hurt_ , and what the hell, he doesn’t get to behurt, because he was the one to act wrong, and it ruined everything for them.

And it hurts Liam to see Zayn like this, it hurts that he made Zayn feel like this, but Zayn walking out on them, leaving them, leaving Liam, that hurt a hell of a lot more, and Liam just can’t forgive that.

“Oh, my God, Liam,” Zayn laughs, a sad note to his voice. “I left because I was fucking tired of lying and I was fucking tired of supressing my feelings for so long, and I was fucking tired of watching you from afar and never getting to tell you how I felt.”

Liam freezes completely, again. He’s heard the words and he’s understood them, but they just don’t form any kind of coherent entity in his head. He just stares at Zayn, painfully aware of seconds passing, of all the noise from the street, of the way Zayn closes distance between them, coming so near they’re almost touching. He’s painfully aware of Zayn’s breath on his face, of Zayn’s long eyelashes he can basically count, of Zayn confessing something big and waiting for Liam to say something, _anything_.

“What,” is all that Liam can produce. It comes out as a whisper, but Zayn’s close enough to hear.

“I was in love with you, you idiot,” Zayn whispers back and presses his lips on Liam’s.

That’s the first time for the sixteen years that Liam feels his heart beating in his chest. And hell, it’s beating like crazy, like it has been only half functioning all this time, and now it’s taking back the beats it missed.

And before Liam knows it, he’s kissing Zayn back.

It’s a cliché, but Zayn tastes like cigarette, coffee and something salted. Liam’s head spins and he doesn’t know what’s happening, can’t quite place it, but he thinks that this is what happiness feels like.

Yep, it’s been years since he’s felt happy, but you just can’t confuse it with anything. It’s like a gulp of air after being underwater for too long, or coming home after a long, long leg of tour, or holding your new-born in your arms, or kissing the man you’ve been in love with for over a decade, even if you realised it just now.

Zayn is the first to step back, and for a moment they just stand there, in Liam’s hallway, panting, chests rising and falling quickly, not sure what to do or to think or to say. But then Zayn’s eyes turn a bit darker, and shoot him if he’s being wrong, but Liam interprets it as desire, so he presses his lips back to Zayn’s.

And he wasn’t wrong, because Zayn seems to be as into it as Liam is.

“You. Me. My bedroom. Now,” Liam says between the kisses and Zayn winces at that, attempting to get rid of Liam’s shirt.

Liam starts pushing Zayn towards his bedroom, and they pretty successfully undress each other on their way. They lips stay clued to each other the whole time, only parting to get rid of their shirts. As soon as they reach his bed, Liam throws Zayn on it, and climbs on top of him. Soon enough, Zayn flips them so that he’s on top, littering small gentle kisses everywhere on Liam’s burning skin. He makes his way down, kissing, licking and biting every surface he possibly can, and it’s driving Liam crazy, makes him want Zayn more than he has ever wanted anything in his entire life.

At last Zayn reaches his cock, hard and aching already, but Zayn’s taking his sweet time, not hurrying anywhere. He teases Liam with small kisses all over his lower belly, and pushes his hips firmly down, when Liam tries to push them up.

Liam thinks he’s gonna die, because of, he doesn’t know, all the blood escaping his brain or impatience, but then Zayn finally decides he’s had enough, so he puts his mouth around Liam.

Liam couldn’t be embarrassed by the winces and sighs that escape his lips even if he wanted to, because Zayn is too good to be true. He uses just the right amount of tongue and moves his mouth the way Liam has never experienced anyone do. He’s seeing stars and his head is still spinning and he thinks that should he drop dead right not, he would die happy.

He also thinks he could come like this, but then Zayn stops and Liam squeals disappointedly.

Zayn climbs back up, biting Liam’s neck and collarbones and then kissing Liam again. Liam can taste himself on Zayn’s tongue, and it’s such a turn on it almost pushes him over the edge.

“Where are your-?” Zayn starts, punctuating his words with kisses.

“Nightstand, the drawer,” Liam pants impatiently. Zayn disappears, but before Liam can complain about loss of contact, he’s back, with lube and a condom. Zayn doesn’t waste time, pops the lube open and spreads it on his fingers, and Liam swears to God, that must be the hottest sight ever.

At this point it’s clear that Zayn can’t contain himself anymore either, because his movements are rushed and not so gentle anymore, but Liam loves it. He start opening Liam up, second finger following almost instantly after the first, and third joining them right away, and it feels _so_ good, but it’s not enough, and Liam desires more.

“You ready, babe?” Zayn pants, still pressing kisses on Liam’s chest.

“Oh, God, Zayn, it’s been twenty years, of course I’m ready,” Liam laughs. “Let’s do it already.”

Zayn whimpers at Liam’s words, tears the condom open and slides it on. Liam is still trying to compare the hotness of this to something, but absolutely nothing compares to this.

Zayn slides into him, carefully and slowly, and if Liam was seeing stars before, then what he’s seeing now must be fireworks. It’s like every cell in his body is screaming for Zayn to move, to come closer and never to stop doing what he’s doing. It takes a few slow thrusts, during which Liam and Zayn both get used to sensation, and then Zayn starts so move more confidently, faster and harder. His hand finds its way to grab Liam’s cock and Zayn start moving it in sync with his thrust. Liam’s so high on this he doesn’t know what’s he’s letting out of his mouth, but it must be something encouraging, because Zayn is moving faster and faster. It only takes them a few strokes and thrusts, and suddenly they’re both coming, whispering each other’s names.

No, but. It has never been like this with anyone to Liam.

Zayn slides out of him, throwing the condom somewhere on the floor and collapses on the bed next to Liam. Liam hasn’t still come down from his high, the edges of his vision still blurred.

“I still am,” Zayn whispers into his ear.

“Hmm?” Liam hums, entwining his fingers with Zayn’s.

“I’m still in love with you,” Zayn says, plain and simple, like it’s not big deal at all. Like it’s not something that makes Liam feel happiness and relief and anything but bitterness for the first time in ages. Like it’s something Liam should have known all along.

Liam turns his head to look at Zayn, and he feels so much he can’t even place it all, but maybe he doesn’t have to right away. Maybe right now he can just enjoy the fact that he isn’t numb anymore.

“I’m in love with you, too,” he smiles.

Because this is it, this is his closure, but it's a beginning as well.


End file.
